Mousavi's official website, Kaleme.com, claimed that hundreds of protesters had been arrested, although there has been no independent confirmation.

Another major opposition leader, cleric and former parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi, is also under ‘de facto’ house arrest, according to reports.

In June 2009, Iran was engulfed by a populist rage after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a disputed election, leading to a crackdown of opponents of the regime.

For all of its empty talk about Egypt, the government of Iran should allow the Iranian people the same universal right to peacefully assemble and demonstrate in Tehran that the people are exercising in Cairo, White House national security spokesman Tommy Vietor said last week.

The President of Turkey Abdullah Gul, who is currently visiting Iran, warned that when leaders and heads of countries do not pay attention to the demands of their nations, the people themselves take action to achieve their demands.